Two card detector



Nov. 21, 1967 w. BLEIMAN 3,354,273

TWO CARD DETECTOR Filed Sept. 24, 1965 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 i0 30 40 I 16 W 10 if f 4 44 4f 36 I r 6 a 4 24 ,%-20

INVENTOR.

[En/As W fizz/MAN BY F Nov. 21, 1967 w. BLEIMAN TWO cm) DETECTOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 24, 1965 INVENTOR. [5/5 W 625/444 BY Afiomey United States Patent ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A resiliently mounted roller extends into the passageway through which cards move and narrows down the passageway to a thickness greater than the thickness of one card but smaller than the thickness of two cards. The roller remains stationary when one card is present in the passageway. The resilient mounting of the roller permits the latter slightly to move, in response to the presence of two cards to permit the two cards to pass the roller and, in the process, to engage and rotate the roller. The rotation of the roller actuates an arrangement for placing an obstruction in the passageway downstream of the roller.

This invention relates to an arrangement for detecting the presence of two or more cards concurrently moving past a given point in a passageway.

In copending application Ser. No. 308,012, filed Sept. 10, 1963 by the present applicant and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention, a memory system is described in which information is stored on cards. These cards are relatively thin, flexible, plastic sheets coated with magnetic material. The cards are coded at their upper and lower edges and are stored in packs in a magazine. A card is selected from a pack by pushing a group of the cards including the one desired out of the pack, gripping that card, and returning the remaining cards to the pack. The selected card is then moved through an opening in the magazine and into a passageway where the card is propelled by rollers, and belts toward a read-write station.

In the system discussed briefly above, only one card is desired to be withdrawn from a magazine at a time. However, occasionally two cards erroneously are withdrawn from the magazine and concurrently are propelled down the passageway. When this occurs, it is desirable that the presence of the two cards quickly be detected, and an alarm given. It is also desirable to stop the cards in the passageway so that they can be removed, both to prevent damage to the cards and possible damage to certain delicate parts located at the read-write station.

The object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement for performing these functions.

' The invention includes a roller extending into the paspassage of two cards. When rently pass this roller, they rotating roller actuates an arrangement for placing an obstruction in the passageway downstream of the roller for stopping the cards. It also actuates a visual (or audible) alarm circuit.

The invention is discussed in greater detail below and is shown in the following drawings of which:

FIGURE 1 is a side, cross-sectional View of the invention; 7

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section taken along line 2-2 of FIGURE 1; g 7

FIGURE 3 is a schematic, cross-sectional showing of the arrangement of FIGURES 1 and 2, an indicating circuit, and a passageway obstructing means; and

3,354,273 Patented Nov. 21, 1967 FIGURE 4 is a schematic showing of an automatic reset arrangement for the present invention.

FIGURE 1 shows a passageway 10 defined by two side walls 12 and 14 and upper and lower walls 16 and 18. A card 20 is shown in the passageway. The card, in practice, is of rectangular shape, approximately 16 inches long and 4 /2 inches wide. The short dimension of the card is visible in FIGURE 1 and the card moves in the direction into the paper in FIGURE 1.

The two card detection arrangement includes a housing 22 which is secured to wall 14 'by a number of screws, one of which is shown at 24. A roller 26 is mounted on a hub 28 located within the housing 22. The hub is fixed to an axle 30 which is rotatably mounted in the housing 22.

A cam 32 extends from one end of axle 30. A relatively flat surface of this cam normally engages the arm 34 of microswitch 36, as seen most clearly in FIGURE 2. The microswitch is mounted on the housing 22. The cam 32 is on the same axle as the roller and of much smaller diameter than the roller. Therefore, the cam imparts a substantially greater force on the arm 34 than the corresponding force required to be applied to the circumferential surface of the roller for rotating the roller.

The housing 22 is narrowed down in the region 38 thereof, which region acts somewhat like a leaf spring. This spring portion 38 is shaped to cause the free end 40 of the housing to abut the wall 14. The coil spring 42, located between extension 44 of wall 16 and the housing, biases the housing in the same direction as the portion 38 of the housing. The additional bias imparted by coil spring 42 is employed to back up the bias imparted by the leaf spring 38 as the latter is formed of a material which may relax under continuous stress.

The roller 26 extends a slight distance beyond wall 14 and into the passageway 10. Bolt 46 is located in opposite Wall 12 and its rounded end portion 48 is aligned with the portion of the roller 26 which extends furtherest into the passageway. The position of the bolt is adjusted so that the space between the roller and the rounded end 48 of the bolt is somewhat greater than one card thickness and somewhat smaller than two card thicknesses. In the memory system described above, the cards are 0.008 inch thick and the spacing between the bolt and roller is adjusted to 0.012 inch.

In the operation of the arrangement of FIGURES 1 and 2, when one card 20 is traveling down the passageway, it does not affect the roller 26 since the spacing between this roller and the bolt 46 is substantially larger than the card thickness. When two or more cards concurrently travel down the passageway, they engage the roller 26. The resilient mounting of the housing 22 permits the roller and housing slightly to move in the direction of arrow 50, against the bias of spring 42, thereby opening the space between the roller and bolt 46 an amount sufficient to permit the cards to ride over the roller and to continue to move down the passageway. However, during the movement of the cards over the roller, the latter turns. When the roller turns, the cam 32 also turns and actuates the microswitch 36 via the arm 34.

A simplified showing of the microswitch circuit and certain additional portions of the memory system appears in FIGURE 3. The coupling between the microswitch 36 and the cam 32 is shown by dotted line 34. The microswitch is in a circuit including a power supply, shown as battery 52, an indicating device, shown as a bulb 54, and a solenoid 56. The plunger of the solenoid connects to an obstruction or gate 58 which is in its retracted position when the solenoid is not energized.

The direction of card movement down the passageway 10 is shown by arrow 60 at the left side of the figure. The card is moving at a very rapid speed (approximately 400 inches per second) having been accelerated by belts and rollers (not shown) after leaving the magazine. The card moves past the two card detector, shown schematically at 26, 46 and into engagement with a drive roller 62 and idler roller 64. The drive means for the drive roller 62 is shown schematically at 66.

After the card leaves the rollers 62, 64 it moves down passageway a toward the read-write station. The long dimension of card 20 is visible in FIGURE 3. Note that the distance between the drive roller 62 and the next driving means, capstan 66, is greater than one card length.

The capstan 66 is part of the read-write station. When the card leaves the assageway 10a, belts (not shown) cause the card to engage the capstan. The capstan then moves the card past read-write heads where information may be written on or read from the cards.

In the operation of the arrangement of FIGURE 3, if two or more cards attempt to pass the two card detector 26, 46, at the same time, they cause the roller 26 to rotate and the cam 32 thereupon closes microswitch 36. When the microswitch 36 closes, the solenoid 56 is actuated and the obstruction 56 is driven into the passageway and stops the cards. At the sametime, the light 54 goes on (if desired a bell or other alarm may be used instead) indicating to the operator that two or more cards are present in the passageway. The operator then can stop the machine and manually remove the cards.

In the arrangement shown, the housing for the roller 26 is resiliently mounted to permit the roller to move a distance sufiicient to permit cards to pass the roller. Other arrangements for achieving the same purpose are possible. For example, the housing may be rigidly secured to the wall 14 and the rim of the roller for-med of a material of sufficient resiliency to permit the material to be compressed and the card to pass.

After two cards have been detected by the arrangement described, they may be removed and the micro switc hand cam reset to their original position. The microswitch and cam may be reset manually by rotating the roller 26 to its initial position. As an alternative, automatic reset means may be provided. One way of achieving automatic reset (assuming the multiple cards substantially fully overlap each other) is to make the circumference of the roller 26 equal to the length of the card sothat after the card has passed the switch, the latter returns to its initial position. It is assumed that with this type of arrangement the solenoid, once actuated, is held at its actuated position until manually or automatically reset. A conventional relay hold circuit or a mechanical ratchet latching arrangement may be employed.

Another way in which the arrangement can be reset automatically is to spring bias the shaft 30 to make it return to its original position after the cards have passed. A third arrangement for automatic reset is illustrated in FIGURE 4. The microswitch 36 is somewhat modified from the microswitch of FIGURE 2. It includes a fixed arm 60 to which is pivotally mounted a movable arm 62. The movable arm is spring biased by spring 64 and a roller 66 is mounted on the free end of this arm. The button of the microswitch is shown at 68.

In the operation of thearrangement of FIGURE 4, the roller 26 can rotate only through a relatively small angle. It is prevented from rotating through 360 by the arm 62 which is shown at its limit position. The rim of the roller 26 is formed of a relatively smooth material such as a metal. After the roller has been forced by a pair of cards to move through its limit angle, the cards continue to slide over the smooth surface of the stationary roller until they are past the roller. The spring 64 and arm 62 bearing against the cam 32 cause the roller 26 to return to its initial position. In this initial position, the microswitch 36 returns to ts open condition. As It the previous automatic reset arrangement, the gate 58 remains blocking the passage until the solenoid is manually or-automatically reset.

magnetic material are employed, the term card in the claims which follow is intended to be generic to a sheet of material of any kind as, for example, paper or the like. Moreover, while the invention is described in connection with one specialized application, it is to be understood that it is useful in other applications in which two or more sheets of material erroneously may be delivered when only one is called for.

What is claimed is:

1. An arrangement for detecting the presence of two cards comprising, in combination:

a passageway for said cards comprising a pair of walls spaced apart a distance greater than twice the thickness of a card; 7

means including a roller which is freely rotatable extending into the passageway to an extent sufiicient to narrow down a portion of the passageway to a thickness larger than that required for the passage of one card but smaller than that required for the concurrent passage of two cards, whereby the roller remains stationary when only a single card passes the roller and rotates when two cards concurrently pass the roller; and

means responsive to the rotation of the roller for detecting the presence of two cards.

2. An arrangement for detecting the presence of two cards comprising, in combination:

a passageway for said cards comprising a pair of walls spaced apart a distance greater than twice the thickness of a card;

means including a resiliently mounted roller extending into the passageway to an extent sufficient to narrow down a portion of the passageway to a thickness larger than that required for the passage of one card but smaller than that required for the concurrent passage of two cards, whereby the roller remains stationary when only a single card passes the roller but rotates when two cards reach the roller concurrently, the resilient mounting of said roller permitting the roller to move in response to the presence of two cards to thereby permit the two cards to pass the roller and, in the process, to engage and rotate the roller; and

means responsive to the rotation of said roller for indicating thepresence of two cards.

'3. An arrangement for detecting the presence of two cards comprising, in combination:

a passageway for said cards comprising a pair of walls spaced apart a distance greater than twice the thickness of a card;

means including a resiliently mounted roller extending into the passageway to an extent suflicient to narrow down a portion of the passageway to a thicknessla-rger than that required for the passage of one card but smaller than thatrequired for the concurrent passage of two cards, whereby the roller remains stationary when only a single card passes the roller but rotates when two cards reach the roller concurrently, the resilient mounting of said roller permitting the roller to move in response to the presence of two cards-to thereby permit the two cards to pass the roller and, in the process, to engage and rotate the roller; and

means responsive to the rotation of said roller for placing an obstruction in the passageway downstream of the roller for causing the two cards to stop.

4. An arrangement for detecti ng the presence of two cards comprising, in combination:

a passageway for said cards comprising a pair of walls spaced apart a distance greater than twice the thickness of a card;'

I a roller which is freely rotatable resiliently mounted to a wall of said passageway and extending into the passageway; v

74 a j able member mounted in the opposite wall of the passageway and extending into the passageway a distance such that the space between the end of the member and the roller is larger than the thickness of one card but smaller than the thickness of two cards, whereby the roller remains stationary when only a single card passes the roller but rotates when two cards reach the roller concurrently, the resilient mounting of said roller permitting it to move in response to the presence of two cards a distance sufficient to permit the two cards to pass the roller and, in the process, to engage and rotate the roller; and

means responsive to rotation of the roller for placing an obstruction in the passageway downstream of the roller for stopping the card.

5. An arrangement for detecting the presence of two cards comprising, in combination:

a passageway for said cards comprising a pair of walls spaced apart a distance greater than twice the thickness of a card;

an axle rotatably mounted on a resilient support;

means including a roller fixed to said axle and extending into the passageway to an extent sufficient to narrow down a portion of the passageway to a thickness larger than that required for the passage of one card but smaller than that required for the concurrent passage of two cards, whereby the roller remains stationary when only a single card passes the roller but rotates when two cards reach the roller concurrently, the resilient support permitting the roller to move in response to the presence of two cards a distance sufficient to permit the two cards to pass the roller and, in the process, to engage and rotate the roller;

a cam on said axle having radii curvature which are substantially smaller than the radius of the roller;

a switch mechanism coupled to the cam, which switch is actuated when the roller and cam turn; and

means electrically coupled to the switch for placing an obstruction in the passageway downstream of the roller for stopping the two cards when the switch is actuated.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,701,861 2/1929 Niblack 271-57 2,196,741 4/1940 Schubert 271-57 X 3,158,369 11/1964 Blenner et al. 271-57 3,185,473 5/1965 Miaskoff et al. 271-56 3,249,354 5/1966 Egnaczek et a1. 271-57 3,287,015 11/1966 Preuss et a1. 271-57 BERNARD A. GILHEANY, Primary Examiner. H. E. SPRINGBORN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN ARRANGEMENT FOR DETECTING THE PRESENCE OF TWO CARDS COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION: A PASSAGEWAY FOR SAID CARDS COMPRISING A PAIR OF WALLS SPACED APART A DISTANCE GREATER THAN TWICE THE THICKNESS OF A CARD; MEANS INCLUDING A ROLLER WHICH IS FREELY ROTATABLE EXTENDING INTO THE PASSAGEWAY TO AN EXTENT SUFFICIENT TO NARROW DOWN A PORTION OF THE PASSAGEWAY TO A THICKNESS LARGER THAN THAT REQUIRED FOR THE PASSAGE OF ONE CARD BUT SMALLER THAN THAT REQUIRED FOR THE CONCURRENT PASSAGE OF TWO CARDS, WHEREBY THE ROLLER REMAINS STATIONARY WHEN ONLY A SINGLE CARD PASSES THE ROLLER AND ROTATES WHEN TWO CARDS CONCURRENTLY PASS THE ROLLER; AND MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE ROTATION OF THE ROLLER FOR DETECTING THE PRESENCE OF TWO CARDS. 